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Film

August 25, 2008

I am a huge movie fan. I spent a lot of the Saturdays of my childhood inside a dark movie theater, watching whatever the new movie of the week happened to be. I saw lots of movies that I was probably a bit too young to understand, as my mom is also a movie fan while my dad, not so much. Mom didn't like to go to the movies alone so I tagged along.

When I wasn't at the movies, I was under the project car of the month with my dad. He put himself through college by buying and rebuilding old VW bugs, Karmann Ghias, and Things. So it wasn't all that surprising to them when I developed an affinity for the cool cars in the movies and on television. Yahoo! has their list, Wizard Universe has theirs, but here's my list of some of the most memorable.

1961 Ferrari 250 GT California: What teenager could resist taking this gem out for a spin? True, Cameron destroyed his father's car himself, but Ferris Buehler got to cruise it all over Chicago.

The Batmobile: Whether it was the caped crusader's car from the 60's television show, the cartoony car driven by George Clooney's Batman, or the amazing, transforming ride in The Dark Knight, Batman's car is more than transportation - it's a crime-fighting dynamo in its own right.

1965 Lincoln Continental: When the world is just an illusion and you can have any ride you want, did Laurence Fishburne want a Porsche? A Mercedes? A GT0? Nope - in the Matrix, he imagined himself a Lincoln, jet black, suicide doors. The epitome of cool.

Lotus Esprit: This gorgeous ride made an appearance in both Pretty Woman, the ultimate chick flick, and The Spy Who Loved Me - only in Spy, it converted to a submarine as well. Ultra chic.

Why these cars? Because a true gearhead knows that your car is an extension of your personality. The right car paired with the right part completes the picture and makes the character come alive. Keep an eye on what the onscreen characters drive during your next visit to the multiplex, and see what it says about the story. You might see the characters in a whole new way.

The real story is that Pixar has generated nine consecutive number one movies--no other studio has a record anywhere near that in terms of both commercial and critical success. So how do they do it? How do they achieve such a high--and consistent--performance level?

They hire staff for the long-term--by creating a unique place to collaborate, learn, grow (and with a physically cool workspace as well).
One unique benefit they have put into place is Pixar University. All employees take classes ranging from improv to animation--with over 110 classes to choose from. You might be in a class with an executive, a chef and an animator. Everyone is on equal footing, everyone is learning about creativity. Even if some people have better innate skills than others, the point is to teach people new ways to think and approach a project.

Another way Pixar is different than typical Hollywood is that they don't bring people together on a project only to disband when it is complete. Think about what your workplace would be like if everyone knew that they would be working together for the long term, having successes, recovering from challenges--all for the greater good.

Would you be able to unleash more innovation?

Attract the best talent?

Create enduring connections with customers?

Now it's time to think about how to take the Pixar ideas of innovation and bring them into your business.

Can you begin conversations about who you are as a company--and what you're fighting for? The Executive Chairman of Southwest Airlines will tell you they are in the "freedom business", not air travel--a distinctive perspective that shapes all aspects of their business.

Companies can create transformation points--where they either move in new directions or go back to a commitment they aspired to at the beginning (like being in the freedom business) and use it to reignite themselves. Even if you are in a mature firm, the way business is being conducted may not reflect your current marketplace. It might be time to think hard about how you can bring people together just like Pixar does--for the long term.

Unleash a little bit of maverick in yourself and see where can impact your company.

July 10, 2008

The thrill derived from a well-crafted movie car chase or car crash sequence is undeniable. Everyone--whether a car fanatic or not--can appreciate a great American muscle car in a high-speed chase, especially in the days before CGI. In fact, director Quentin Tarantino released an homage to old time car chase scenes in his 2007 feature Death Proof, in which real life stuntwoman Zoe Bell appears as herself.

Here in Rochester, NY, we are fortunate to have the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in the city. The museum is located in the former home of George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company. As part of the museum's film program, the Eastman House's Dryden Theatre is presenting a tribute to "The Great American Car Crash & Car Chase Movies" in their Thunder Roads series. This collection of movies represents some of the best and most celebrated films in the genre.

The series kicked-off with Thunder Road, the classic 1958 movie about running moonshine, and continues with a double feature on July 17th including Death Race 2000 and Deathsport. In these and the other movies the cars are in just as much of a starring role as the actors. With the right stunt drivers behind the wheel these classic muscle cars are quite the scene stealers. Take, for instance, the Ford Mustang driven by McQueen in Bullitt and the Dodge Challenger R/T featured in Vanishing Point. ClassicMustang.com features the an article on the car chase in Bullitt and the stunt driver(s) who pulled it off.

Even if you can't make it to the theater, we definitely recommend checking out one or more of these classic movies and enjoying some of the ground-breaking car chase and car crash scenes of American cinema.